UK PM May should call an early election to cope with Brexit - Hague says

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

Britain's former Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs William Hague makes a speech supporting remaining in the EU, at Chatham House in London, Britain, June 8, 2016. REUTERS/Dan Kitwood/Pool/Files

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May should scrap fixed-term parliaments and call an early general election to ensure she has the time and political security to cope with the travails of Brexit, William Hague, a former Conservative Party leader, said.

Hague, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said that “trouble is coming” over the next two years as the government tries to implement Brexit and that PM May needs a bigger majority in the House of Commons to force through change.

“We have a new Prime Minister and Cabinet facing the most complex challenges of modern times: Brexit negotiations, the Trump administration, the threat from Scottish nationalists, and many other issues,” said Hague, a former foreign secretary.

“There is no doubt that they would be in a stronger position to take the country through these challenges successfully if they had a large and decisive majority in the Commons and a new full term ahead of them,” he said.

Hague said Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn was the party’s “least credible leader ever” and had led his party to “its worst condition since the 1930s”.

May has made it clear to her colleagues that she does not favour an early election, because she thinks it would be self-serving and create added uncertainty at a time when the country needs stability, the Telegraph said.

Hague said to hold a vote, May would need to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act which means there can only be an election every five years unless two-thirds of lawmakers vote agree to a poll or the government loses a vote of no confidence.

“If asked I am sure ministers will say that they have no plans to introduce a change,” Hague said. “However, quietly and carefully, it is worth thinking about.”